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The vertical jump is one of the measurements used to assess players at the NFL combine. If you want to stand out, you need to have a good vertical jump.
You need to train your body so that you will have an impressive vertical jump. And in all honesty, you need to develop a vertical jump of 40 inches or more. (The closer to 45 inches, the better!)
Why should you focus on improving your vertical jump.
This will improve your explosiveness on the field.
- You will become faster.
- You will become more agile.
- You will become more difficult to defend.
In all essence, you will become a weapon on the field.
How can wide receivers improve their vertical jump?
Commit to developing explosive vertical power in your legs.
This is the first port of call. Your training must focus on developing explosive power through your hips, quads, hamstrings, calves, and ankles.
The more strength and power that you can develop through these areas, the more explosive you will become.
Develop the explosive strength in your back squats.
Look at Olympic weightlifters and you will see that they generate an incredible amount of explosive power through their glutes. They can do this because they have developed their technique, which allows them to generate power from a low squatting position.
You will need to develop your back squat initially so that your technique allows you to squat from a low position (lower than 90 degrees).
You will then develop the strength to be able to generate power through an extended range of motion.
Over time, you will add more weight (progressive overload) to develop more strength and explosiveness in the muscle groups through the squat.
You will ideally want to get 1.5-2 times your weight on the back squat using the correct technique.
Develop power in your deadlift
The deadlift will improve the hip hinge strength that you will develop and you will ideally want to develop strength that will allow you to shift 1.5-2 times your weight.
You will need to do progressive overload and implement a technique that will allow you to train your muscles to generate power from a low position. You will then need to add weight as you continue to gain more strength and power.
Explosive squats
You want to do explosive squats (with no weight) and aim to jump as high as you can.
It would be ideal if you have a mark that you can work towards (such as a roof) and aim to touch it with each explosive movement.
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